I've already posted in here once, regarding my father's plan for me to pay my employer once I get an apprenticeship.
But now, I started thinking about how to survive in case one has a job. Both money-wise and time-wise. As an European, jobs around my location give off a salary of USD 12-18 on the basis of 40 hours of work per week. However, this is far from what living costs. Using the median salary of USD 15 per hour, this makes a monthly salary of 2760 bucks. Taking 40% off the gross salary for the means of taxes and insurance, we're left with 1656 bucks. Taking about 1200 bucks away from that, that's rent for 540sqft – without electricity, water or gas – Buying a house costs millions. Assuming one goes to work with public transport, which only works more or less tolerable because I live in a very large city and is barely existent in smaller cities, one is left with debt already. No food. No furniture. No whatever else you want or need to live. Even if you had that, you work 40 hours a week and don't have time to care for your household.
On top of that, there are people like me who live with disabilities and might not be able to work as primarily expected of them by employers. Plenty of us, especially people who have an impaired ability to learn, are systematically locked out of the education system and are taught nothing but to work in special facilities that have a feel of something in between a prison and a concentration camp to it for less than two dollars per hour. Apprenticeships yield 600 – 900 bucks per month on average. Our minimum wage is 12 bucks an hour, but realistically, a living wage would be four times that.
I just really can't explain myself how to survive as an adult.